Well, you know me. I either post immediately or agonize over a chapter for months. I also forget how busy fall gets and how little writing time I usually have - but no matter! The chapter is here and who knows if you'll like it or not!

It's pretty short compared to my usual chapter length but it somehow fit better like that, and I don't really have time to write more until the holidays anyway.

I'll spare you my anxiety over it and just let you read! Hopefully soon I can catch up with the reviews I haven't replied to yet, I'm always in awe over the love you're showing this fic!

Chapter 52: Reset fate

xxx

There was no easing into it.

Disoriented, Charasuke staggered forwards, his lips and mouth burning as the fruit's power sank into his body like poison. His chakra nodes felt on fire, crackling inside him like tiny bolts of lightning.

It felt like opening a tap that had been dripping slowly for centuries, a sudden flood that left him reeling.

If light was a feeling, he was feeling it now. Like a star had fallen from the sky and crashed into him. Like he was more than himself.

He gasped, falling to his knees. His vision swam, the world tearing apart and putting itself back together, in a never-ending loop that left him numb.

Time lost all meaning.

He wasn't sure he still had a body. Everything was floating, like he was made of tiny dots of pure energy, mashed together to create something with a consciousness.

He was, but he also wasn't.

Another breath, like fire in his lungs. Like swallowing a fireball. Like he'd imagined what swallowing a fireball might be like.

He was shaking, or the world was shaking, or perhaps it was all in his head. A crescendo of voices screaming all at once. Power, but unlike any power he'd ever felt. He was made of it. He was power. He was infinite possibilities, flashing by with no sense or meaning. He was then and now and tomorrow, the earth and the sky and every living thing in existence. He was losing himself to the void, melting into nothingness.

Something slapped him across the face.

His back hit the tree, his head following after. He was seeing stars, but in the figurative, familiar sense. His limbs ached, when he remembered to feel them.

Even though his vision seemed split in two, Hagoromo stood out in stark relief against the rushing infinity of the universe.

Oh, right, he thought, hearing his own voice echoing back inside his mind. Like his brain had expanded to fit the world inside it. If he focused, he could almost ignore it.

"I will end you," Hagoromo threatened, but Charasuke saw his future.

It hovered just behind him, the deep darkness of death reaching for him. He stared at it, the way it hungrily ensnared him, like snakes slithering up his legs and arms.

He saw the second blow long before it even began, rolling to the side as Hagoromo's fist crashed into the tree. He felt it groan in pain, felt its anger at a man so desperate to live he failed to see he'd already died.

"You can't end me," he replied, breathless.

He touched his palm to the tree, and it was so alive. It was part of him. It was him. He felt it stretch towards the sky, felt it burrow its roots deep into the earth. Felt it, ageless, like life itself.

He felt it inside him, like his blood had turned to chakra, like his bones had turned to roots.

Staring down at his hands, he found his body a mere shell, creating an illusion of human flesh. He was no longer himself, and yet this was him. The moment he bit into the fruit, this was the fate decided for him.

His heart beat too fast, too heavy. Each beat marked the passing of time, inevitable. Counted moments to infinity. Moments until his own end.

Hagoromo gathered up his chakra, letting it crackle under his skin. It flickered, sickly, broken. It seeped away from him, slipping through his fingers like sand. He let out an agonized moan, blood trickling from his eyes, dark red over pale skin.

Charasuke would pity him, if he had room for human emotion.

He watched. Hagoromo's skin started flaking, chakra flowing underneath it. Its blue color darkened to a deep, midnight black, mingling with the color of death itself. It dripped onto the branch they stood on, melting into the tree. Hagoromo stared, hands held out in front of himself, crying tears of blood as his body slowly disintegrated.

It wasn't death, precisely. The tree took his energy, and darkness took his soul.

When there was nothing left of him, Charasuke drew in a deep breath. His hold on reality was fragile, his fingers trembling as he clutched at his chest. He could feel his heartbeat, could touch the solid flesh encasing it. Even as he felt it, he saw through it.

He saw the chakra flow through him, saw how delicate his physical form was. How easy, to let go of it completely.

He stared and breathed and stared until his hands stopped trembling, until his mind felt part of his body, until he couldn't see the inside of himself anymore. There was no relief – there was only control, the firm belief that he was human.

Don't think about it, he told himself. Don't look for the universe. It's not there. Nothing changed.

The universe was looking for him, though. He closed his eyes firmly, pressed his lips together, clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms, but he couldn't feel the pain. The voices were still there, and now he could understand.

It wasn't a human language. It was the sound of the universe.

Singing to him, through dimensions, filling his head with the birth of stars and ends of galaxies. It felt like a crowd of people inside his skull, elbowing each other for room.

"Make it stop," he whispered, sinking to his knees.

He felt his eyes burn with hot tears, felt his throat tighten, and the return of pain was welcome. The pain was real.

"Please," he begged, but who would answer?

His vision swam as he opened his eyes, fingertips scratching at the rough bark on the branch he kneeled on. The world continued endlessly, uncaring. The singing was so loud, making him choke, disrupting his balance. He felt like he was slipping sideways, like the tree had decided enough was enough and wanted to send him on his way.

Time still held no meaning.

This place was beyond time, in any sense he would have understood it before. It was, and eventually it would end, but that moment was so far away that he shuddered at the way it stretched out before him, a road he could never walk. There was no such thing as infinity, but whatever Charasuke felt had to come close.

He cried, and his tears fell onto the God Tree, and the God Tree showed no mercy.

xxx

When the light returned, it was not the same as before.

Naruto fell to the ground, the bubble disappearing as if it had never been there. To his side Sasuke did the same, though with a bit more grace. They shared a look, and turned towards Kaguya.

She was no longer there.

"Where did she go?" Naruto asked, uselessly. Sasuke wouldn't know more than him. "Do you think she…"

"I don't think anything," Sasuke said, voice tight.

As one, they ran towards the tree. The light was spreading slowly across the sky, not from the horizon, but from the tree itself. It pushed away the darkness they'd been plunged into, bit by bit lighting up the vast root-filled area surrounding them. Their chakra still didn't work, but Naruto pushed himself all the same. Something had happened and he had no idea what.

Either Kaguya was gone, or she had somehow found a way to fight against her son. And if she was gone, who had made it happen? Someone or something had caused Hagoromo to react, and although part of him hoped it had led to his defeat, he didn't dare assume.

"Fuck, this place is big," he gritted out through clenched teeth, jumping over and under the giant roots as they ran.

Sasuke didn't reply, but he could see the expression on his face. There was worry there, something in the set of his jaw and the urgency in his eyes that made Naruto wonder if he'd managed to draw any conclusions. If he had, he clearly didn't like them.

The closer they got, the brighter it was. The light seemed to come from within the tree crown, shining through the branches and creating long shadows underneath it. It didn't feel natural. It was too pale, too piercing. Sasuke's skin looked translucent in it, his dark hair and dark eyes in eerie contrast. He shivered, slowing down as they neared the base of the tree.

"Sasuke," he said, but Sasuke had slowed with him.

"Wish I had my Rinnegan," Sasuke muttered.

They spent a minute observing. It was quiet, no rustle of wind in leaves, no animals making a living there. Naruto's breaths sounded loud in his ears, all senses straining without chakra to aid him.

When Sasuke froze, Naruto gripped his arm.

"What is it?"

Sasuke pointed at the tree, a spot near the base.

"Something's moving," he replied, biting his lip for a second before climbing onto the root they hid behind.

He looked down at Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"Only one way to find out," he said.

Sighing, Naruto held his hand out, Sasuke pulling him up.

"Alright, let's do this."

He felt Sasuke squeeze his hand briefly, then followed him. Whatever it was, it moved slowly, as if floating. It was difficult to look upwards, the thing blending in with the light. They were too busy looking up, squinting and shielding their eyes with a hand, that they would have stumbled over the cocoons on the ground had Sasuke not noticed them just in time.

Six of them laid in a neat row in the middle of a broad root, slightly shielded by another root twisting around it. Pale white, except for the faces peeking through. Thin strands were connected to the top of their heads, stretching up into the air.

"So that's where they went," Naruto breathed out, slowly approaching.

He kneeled by Gaara, touching his face carefully. He felt cold, but not dead, air from his nose gently touching the back of Naruto's hand. A weight fell from his shoulders.

"That would be the seventh one," Sasuke said, Naruto leaning his head back to see another cocoon descending, the one they'd seen from afar. "Did you bring any weapons?"

Naruto shook his head.

"What about you? Your.,," He tapped the inside of his wrist for the seals Sasuke stored shuriken in, but Sasuke made a grimace.

"Doesn't work without chakra. We were heading back from dinner."

"Charasuke?"

He felt his insides twist. Menma hadn't been by his side when he woke up, and now it seemed likely a ninth cocoon would join the other ones. Sasuke thinned his lips, gaze flitting between the cocoons and the tree.

"I left him unconscious. But–"

He paused, meeting Naruto's eyes. His face was unreadable now, a careful mask in place. Still, Naruto could feel his fear, read it in the tension in his neck, the awareness of their surroundings.

"But what?"

The seventh cocoon reached the ground, and Naruto aided it to lie beside the others. Without any chakra or weapons, there was no way for them to cut them open.

"Kaguya spoke with him. He heard our conversation with her, and then she kept him longer to say something."

"What did she–"

"I don't know," Sasuke interrupted him, frustration seeping into his voice. "He said it didn't make sense."

"Well." Naruto licked his dry lips, the silence pressing in on them from all sides. "He's not down here, at least."

He walked over to Sasuke, placing his hands on his hips. Sasuke looked tired, but Naruto was grateful that they were both still alive. Whatever waited for them up above, he didn't want to face it without Sasuke by his side.

"I promised nothing would happen to him," Sasuke said quietly, closing his eyes.

When he opened them again, Naruto could see the pain he felt as if it were his own.

"He'll be fine, I'm sure." He knocked their foreheads together, Sasuke's hands coming up to tangle in his hair. "Something feels weird, but not… It doesn't feel wrong, you know? It just feels like we're not supposed to be here."

Sasuke sighed, his warm breath washing over Naruto's mouth. His presence was soothing, grounding him. His hands were steady in his hair, the touch of his forehead firm. Their shared beat seemed to pulsate in his chest, and when he moved closer, chest to chest, he could feel it mirrored inside Sasuke too.

"Don't blame yourself for something you don't even know if it happened yet."

He could tell that Sasuke wanted to argue, and decided to take preventative measures. Kissing Sasuke was always the best option, after all, and he slid his hands up his sides, trying to bring him even closer. The fingers in his hair tightened their grip, tilting his head until their mouths slotted together more comfortably. His chest burned, heart beating heavily for a much more pleasant reason.

He'd missed him so much. There were so many things he wanted to tell him, but he wanted to tell him at home, not like this. He wanted to kiss him again and again, without worrying their time together would end.

Clinging to him, Naruto bit into his lower lip, a soft gasp sending a rush of want through him. He chased that gasp with his tongue, Sasuke warm and soft in his arms.

Although, he wasn't actually soft. He was all hard angles and tightly wound muscle, but somehow, when Naruto put his mouth on him, he seemed to melt into it. Like he couldn't help himself. Like Naruto made him soft.

A noise behind them cut things short.

They turned, the eighth cocoon landing in its designated spot. Killer Bee's face looked strange without his sunglasses, Naruto's breath catching at the sight. The next one would be Menma, but when he lifted his head he couldn't see him.

He glanced at Sasuke, nodding once. Pressing one last, lingering kiss to his lips, they started climbing.

xxx

There was no strength left in his body.

He'd woken up, and the cocoon had ripped in half. He'd barely been able to hold on, struggling to make his way onto a sturdy patch of the tree, where the bark stuck out thick enough for him to sit down. He leaned his head against the trunk, shivering and weak. The tree must have drained him of his chakra, maybe some of his life force, too.

It was so much worse than a hangover.

That time he'd woken up in his mother's arms after fighting Naruto was nothing compared to this. Back then he'd felt utterly wrecked, like his skin was on fire. Now, it felt like every cell in his body could experience nausea.

But he was alive, wasn't he?

He waited for the inevitable regret, the wish for it all to end.

It never came.

He stared unseeingly at nothing, hidden in shadow. He felt empty. He felt full. He felt like he'd lived through a shockwave, his body and brain needing to reset.

Everything felt like a dream, a fuzzy memory he couldn't quite grasp. How had he ended up here? Had he really done those things? Said that?

Had he really given up?

Who was he, on the other side of the end? Because it must have ended. Sasuke couldn't have failed, or he'd still be in that cocoon.

Helplessly, he swallowed down the pain as the memory came crashing down on him. Sasuke, touching his face. Those expressive eyes, so filled with hurt and determination. He hadn't given up.

Menma shifted, closing his eyes. He hoped he was alive. He had to be alive. He couldn't live if Sasuke was dead. The guilt would consume him – already it whispered to him, reminding him of what he'd done.

Had he done it to protect him? To keep him out of harm's way? Or had he done it because he didn't think he deserved him, couldn't bear the thought that he was nothing more than entertainment.

He didn't deserve him.

He needed to find him.

Legs trembling, he stood, fingertips digging into the tree to keep his balance. He coughed, lungs struggling to support him. He leaned heavily against it, in no shape to climb.

"Come on," he muttered, voice rough from disuse. His palms pressed against the tree, his bare feet aching. "Come on, you stupid tree."

He didn't expect anything to happen. Staring dumbly down at his hands, he saw them twitch more than he felt them, in response to the glowing, dark red chakra licking up his arms.

They kyuubi stirred inside him, restlessly.

His hands stilled. His legs steadied. His breathing evened out, until it no longer hurt. His head was still a mess, too tired to understand what was happening, or why. All he knew was that his body healed the way it would when he released the kyuubi's chakra, filled him to the brim until any injury was forced away. There was no time to consider things. He jumped, slowly at first, then quicker as his body held up.

With chakra aiding him, it didn't take long to reach the first branches stretching out, as thick as several houses. The light was almost blindingly strong where it slipped through the branches, like sunlight in the middle of a hot desert. It felt more like moonlight, though, the way it washed out all color.

He wasn't sure what to search for, but something guided him forwards. Maybe it was just his own urgency, pushing him as he ran and jumped and hoped against hope that he wasn't too late.

He heard the crying before he saw him.

Where the light was brightest, the branches seemed to open up into a circle, bent protectively around the source of the sound. Menma shielded his eyes with a hand, pausing. The sobs were quiet, hoarse. He squinted, tentatively taking a few steps forward, and the light seemed to fall away to something bearable as he did.

There, curled into a tight ball on his knees, was Sasuke.

The light came from him, a glowing sphere around him that Menma had entered. He was alive, there was no blood, and yet there was something off about him. Something that made the hairs at the back of his neck stand up, made him feel like a prey animal accidentally wandering into the hunter's lair.

"Sasuke?" he tried, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other, the sound of his steps loud despite his best efforts.

It could be an illusion, a trap. If it was he had no way of escaping it, but nothing happened as he crouched beside Sasuke's trembling form, hesitating to reach out.

He had looked the same from a distance. This close, Menma could see light swirling underneath his skin, like shadows of koi fish swimming in a pond. On his neck, his jaw, his hands that hid his face. His usually pale skin had paled even more, taking on that greyish quality that the woman in his dreams had. The woman who had to be Kaguya.

Gently, he placed his hand on Sasuke's forearm, his warmth reassuring.

"Sasuke," he tried again, and all at once the crying stopped.

Sasuke tensed under his touch, his breaths like hiccups. A shudder ran through him, the swirling lights fading away.

"It's okay," he said, keeping his voice low. "You'll be okay."

Unfurling like a flower in bloom, Sasuke lifted his upper body and turned his head towards him. His hands laid on his lap, palms open. His eyes were glowing purple with the Rinnegan, and in the middle of his forehead sat a third, red eye, with a swirling Mangekyo pattern.

Menma sucked in a breath, his hand falling from Sasuke's arm.

"What happened?" he whispered, unable to help himself as he reached out to wipe the tears from his cheeks as they started falling again.

"I don't know," Sasuke choked out, leaning into his touch. "I ate the chakra fruit."

His heart stilled for a moment. He was staring into the eyes of a chakra god, and that chakra god was Sasuke. He swallowed, thoughts rushing through his head. All he wanted was to touch him, kiss him, make sure he truly was alive. To beg for his forgiveness – but how could he? How could he speak in his presence? How did he dare touch him?

Sasuke placed his hand above Menma's, pressing it into his cheek.

"Don't go," he said, fingers curling around his. "Tell me I'm real. Tell me I still exist."

"You're real," Menma sighed, pulling him against his chest. It was easier if their eyes didn't meet. "I can feel you."

He sat down as Sasuke climbed into his lap, burying his face in his neck. He smelled different. He smelled like a forest on a misty morning, like heaps of fallen leaves and grass covered in frost. He smelled like moonlight reflected in water, like soft winds at night.

"You're just a little different, that's all," he mumbled, hugging him close.

Sasuke made a noise that was a mixture of disbelief and amusement, his hair as silky as ever as Menma ran his fingers through it. He'd used to do that while Sasuke slept, a soothing rhythm that he hoped would give him pleasant dreams. He thought of Naruto's words, the ultimatum he'd issued at the lowest point of Menma's life.

You might not die, he'd said, and he'd been right. If you survive, you have to tell him how you really feel.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, pressing his mouth to the top of Sasuke's head. "I'm so sorry."

Charasuke my beloved... I'm sorry for hurting you OTL

I wrote a few things since posting the previous chapter, but all of it is posted on ao3. So just a reminder that if you want to read more of my stories, I'm posting them all on ao3!